I am approaching the 8 month mark. I just last week had my 7 month exam. I had severe dry eyes thru the winter months Astigmatism and blurred vision/ghosting in my left mostly. I posted in here and asked Glenn questions and he kept saying as my doctor said, sound like the dry eyes are causing the vision problems.
I was always concerned about needing and enhancement, or waiting it out. I got comfort in reading the posts in here and related well to some of stories. Fortunately, my vision has been always improving slightly. They say it is a six month process, but in my case I think it is longer. I have actually noticed more improvement over the last 2 months (7&8), then I have in the 3 months prior.

My doctor said my vision was 20/25 in each eye. He said, like he has at each visit and post op, that my flaps and my eyes look terrific. He is a top surgeon and I value what he says. I spoke to him about putting my on Restassis, which he did. He said for me to come back in about 3 months to look again.

I am glad that I have been patient, I feel that I probably don’t need an enhancement. I'm glad that I did not
Panic and do something stupid. I have noticed over the last month that when I wake up, my vision for the first hour is pretty dam good (better than pre op with glasses). After one hour I feel the moisture leaving my eye and my vision slipping.
I am hopeful that the restassis can finish my recovery and make me see perfect. Looking back I think I always had some dry eye issues as to why I could not see well even with glasses. I can’t tell for sure because my hindsight is only 20/25.

I'm with ya . I don't know how all these enhancments are done so soon if it takes some 6+ months to heal. Especially older patients. On one hand my Doctor tells me how some people come in after 1 week with perfect vision, and then he tells me I have 50+ year old eyes (meaning it's gonna take time) I am curious what was you prescription before correction, and what is it now, or how much has it changed in (say the last 6 months) Has the numbers changed or just your QUALITY of vision that changed. I asked my Doc for Restasis because I have read online, it helps the healing process , but ole Doc says I don't need it and if he was me he would not put anything in his eyes he didn't need. So I didn't push it. By the way I'm 6 months post op...vision is preety good, except at night because of blended vision (mono) , but a -1.00 over the undercorrected eye takes it to really good. Bob

Hi,
Both your comments are similar to my experience also. I have 41 year old eyes. My pre op was -5 in the left and -4.75 in the right. My doctor tells me my combined vision now is 20/20 and I am about 20/25 or 30 in each individual eye with a very slight astigmatism in each. My overall vision is good, but I have ghosting/double vision in the left eye. However, every time I go back to the doctor he says, it will just take time. That I have stubborn type A eyes and they are overfocusing. Each reading he's taken has improved. He has put in temporary plugs that dissolve every ~ 6 weeks and has me come back to check. He says the dryness continues to improve and that by 6 months my tear production should be close to what it was pre surgery (I'm 4 months in now). I continue to be concerned about the double vision as it impacts the overall clarity of how I see far away. For example, I can see people clearly, but when they are beyond say 15 ft, the have like a head and a 1/2. Makes going to plays and sporting events not so pleasant, but he doesn't want to give me glasses for those, because he feels it will interfere with my focusing and brain adjustment. Guess the story is the same, e.g. give it more time. And, he definitely has not entertained enhancement yet. Its just frustrating when you think (and honestly, outside these boards everyone I talk to who has had it says) that you are going to wake up and see wonderfully. Not the case here. I chose not to do PRK because of the healing time, yet here I am in the situation where its taken me just as long, now it looks like longer, with LASIK with the associated flap risks I could have avoided. The one bright light, as you mentioned, is that my flaps are healing wonderfully and I continue to see very incremental improvement.

Mr.UnPerfect wrote:I'm with ya . I don't know how all these enhancments are done so soon if it takes some 6+ months to heal. Especially older patients. On one hand my Doctor tells me how some people come in after 1 week with perfect vision, and then he tells me I have 50+ year old eyes (meaning it's gonna take time) I am curious what was you prescription before correction, and what is it now, or how much has it changed in (say the last 6 months) Has the numbers changed or just your QUALITY of vision that changed. I asked my Doc for Restasis because I have read online, it helps the healing process , but ole Doc says I don't need it and if he was me he would not put anything in his eyes he didn't need. So I didn't push it. By the way I'm 6 months post op...vision is preety good, except at night because of blended vision (mono) , but a -1.00 over the undercorrected eye takes it to really good. Bob

I don't actaully know what my prescription was before and now. I never asked. I am 43. My quality of vision has changed a lot since my surgery. Post op and the weeks to follow my vision was not to clear and would vary day to day. As I drove the Speed limit signs would and appear doubled on top of the other and when I got closer would merge back at about 25 yards. Now that is gone away. After my surgery even though I could not read normal print on TV, I could see the lines that made up the images. I think that was the over correction, but now I am seeing the print pretty good and I can't the lines anymore.

My eyes were extremely dry during the 3 to 5 month period were as I had to use drops every 5 minutes. At the 5 month mark that improved (it now turned spring and the heat is shut off). I feel my eyes are dry more now that I am in AC at work.

noodles wrote:Hi,I continue to be concerned about the double vision as it impacts the overall clarity of how I see far away. For example, I can see people clearly, but when they are beyond say 15 ft, the have like a head and a 1/2.

The one bright light, as you mentioned, is that my flaps are healing wonderfully and I continue to see very incremental improvement.

My doctor said after surgery, the following day, 3 month and 7 months, that my flaps are perfect. I do believe him because I experienced not one tiny bit of discomfort. No burning, no feeling of something in my eye, no nothing post op. My eyes felt the same as they did when I walkin in. My eye sockets were a little irritated from the tool that keeps the eye open.

As you mention. My sight beyond 15 feet was no good either, but I am still seeing improvement in that area. So I would say to keep watching and waiting. I kind of feel that it's not time for an enhancement until all improvement stops.

[quote="FLOPGUY"]I have noticed over the last month that when I wake up, my vision for the first hour is pretty dam good (better than pre op with glasses). After one hour I feel the moisture leaving my eye and my vision slipping.

Once your vision "slips" after the first hour, does it remain in this blurry state for the rest of the day?

I am 2 years post Lasik with an extremely MILD prescription (+0.25 -0.5 x12), I too wake up and for the first hour have superb vision. After the first hour the vision in my right eye goes double and I am un able to read a book or a road sign. Thus after the first hour I am confined to glasses (which do not fully address the situation).

The doctor cannot see anything wrong! My advice to people thinking of having Lasik is stay away - I am one of many that are left with complications that I will have to live with for the rest of my life.

I wish you the best and advice you not to be persuaded to have any "enhancements".

Rich:
How many enhancements did you have?
Were they with the original surgeon?
Was it just one eye or both at the same time?
Did you get second opinions from others?
I think I read you are in another country, so it I'm not sure if it is more difficult than here in the states and if there is a good talent pool to pick from.
Have you considered seeing someone here in the states or emailing them and then mailing them your information?
There are a few in different states that seem to be the most experienced and may be able to give you some more information.
One is certified on this site.

Well, their obviously IS something wrong, so you need to see a different doctor. Even if that means traveling out of the country.

I too am weary of recommending Lasik to anyone and certaily wouldn't encourage anyone to do it. However, I don't think it's wise for you to discourage people because you had a bad outcome, and mostly likely had a bad doctor. Which is why you're having problems in the first place.

What I do rather then recommend the surgery, I recommend people do tons and tons of research about it and find the absolute best Lasik surgeons. Only then should they make THERE OWN decision.

richbron wrote:Once your vision "slips" after the first hour, does it remain in this blurry state for the rest of the day?

My vision remains blurry, but I do start to see a pick up in vision again in the evening. My vision is still improving and I can still progress so I am not too worried yet (now a couple days shy of 8 months). I have noticed a huge decrease in things like street signs be doubled. I am still optimistic because in my trouble eye I can still physically feel that it is dry as my symtoms are at its worst. In the morning when I get up my tear flow is very good. That is why I am really hoping that the restassis will help.

JPD wrote:I too am weary of recommending Lasik to anyone and certaily wouldn't encourage anyone to do it. However, I don't think it's wise for you to discourage people because you had a bad outcome, and mostly likely had a bad doctor. Which is why you're having problems in the first place.

I would not say my Dr was "bad" - he is internationally renowned. Patients heal and respond to Lasik differently. The symptoims I am left are enough for me to share my experience (and then as you say let people make up their own mind). I had Lasik and although I have very little prescription have DOUBLE vision in my right eye and night blindness (glare, halo and starbursts) so badly that I can no longer drive at night.

Even though I wear glasses ALL the time, these do not fully correct me as my astigmatism axis CHANGES throughout the day - starts at about 40 degrees and by the late afternoon its 65 degrees. If you have/had astigmatism you will know that this will have a huge effect on quality of vision. Oh and I can no longer wear contacts - another myth about post Lasik that you can simply wear soft disposables post surgery ....

I am not alone in my suffering and appreciate that I had an 'elective'procedure. All I am doing is sharing my expereince - this has nothing to do with the skill of the Dr - believe me he is regarded as one of the best internationally. I am just letting people know that poor results are possible that ruin lives.

I hope that my experience will help people - if I had my time again, I would NEVER have undergone Lasik, its just not worth it.

JPD wrote:What I do rather then recommend the surgery, I recommend people do tons and tons of research about it and find the absolute best Lasik surgeons. Only then should they make THERE OWN decision..

I absolutely agree with you - I know I did NOT do enough research. The vast majority of people do have a great outcome, I was driven to have surgery based on the great outcomes I read about. People should also research the sites that highlight the DISASTER outcomes as part of their research. Doctors do not tell you about the possibility of inducing Higher Order Aberrations which CANNOT be corrected with regular glasses/contacts.

I never recommend any surgery to anybody. I always say to people do your diligence. Life has a built in element of risk in everything we eat or do. If you put a spoonful of peanutbutter in everyone on the earths mouth, you would have 10's of thounds of people dropping dead in minutes.

To people I say: make sure you are a good canidate, go to couple places that offer a free consultation and see if that say you are a good canidate. Try to talk to people who have had it done and see if they like how they were handled. Listen and ask question to the doctor and see if he is truly listening to you in the begining. Then Study, Study, Study....

It's one thing to fall short on one's vision from this thing, but to get side effects that are not correctable with contacts or glasses is not good. I got tired of hearing, your just sensitive from my original docs, so I continued up the industry until I found professional knowledgeable docs who could answer what was going on and did so fairly quickly in comparison.
I do believe that only certain surgeons, say the top 200 or so should be doing this procedure. That way it is controlled and being performed by the most competent and skillful surgeons. Unfortunately, it's a growth industry that has allowed too many unskilled surgeons at the expense of some patients.
This is an excellent site and should be on all consent forms. That way people truly have a centralized site that has an enormous amount of information and can make a knowledgeable decision without trying to piecemeal info from various sites that aren't as good.
I do believe that there are reasons behind most of these bad/mediocore outcomes that can be answered, but unfortunately one needs to have lots of time, money and courage to figure it out - along with this website.
Richbron there is an excellent doctor in the states here in the midwest (Kansas) and part of this site that is worth contacting if you haven't already. He seems to be the most or one of the most experienced in treating post lasik issues. I believe he does lots of research in addition to have done lots of procedures. No guarantees, but you might as well look into another top opinion. - Hang in there things have a way of turning around sooner or later.

I had Lasik and then had an astigmatic Keratotomy (2 incisions per eye)

DryEye wrote:Were they with the original surgeon?

Yes

DryEye wrote:Was it just one eye or both at the same time?

Both eyes

DryEye wrote:Did you get second opinions from others?

Pre Lasik I had 3 different consultations with the three top local guys

DryEye wrote:Have you considered seeing someone here in the states or emailing them and then mailing them your information?

Yes I have and will try do it next year - my wife is having our 2nd child nexy week so travel is going to be difficult for the next few of months.

I enjoy reading your quotes as I feel we have had similar experiences with our results.

Having your time again, would you go through it again?

Are you currently wearing contacts or glasses?

I rememeber reading (I think) that you too were left with Higher Order Aberrations. Does this impact on the quality of your vision, if so what treatment does your surgeon sgeest. (what are the HOA numbers?)

Richbron
I only had one procedure 13 months ago - VISX customvue
I developed microstriae, dry eyes, have some HOA's, left over astigmatism along with some visual things that never occurred before lasik
They say my HOA's aren't that high, but I do have starbursting around some car headlights (some more than others) and I see at times 1 1/2 green stop lights and some things on my computer screens don't look the same.
In general, I do not see as well (some things I do) as I used to in my contacts and glasses and still use far too many drops to see better.
I have seen a few other surgeons along with a corneal specialist.
I did find a top refractive surgeon and may eventually do an enhancement with him once my schedule clears up. My thinking was and is if I am going to do this again it has to be with a top experienced surgeon something I and everyone should have done the first time around.
I don't wear contacts (said they won't help, but may try one anyway) and I have trial glasses, which help my right eye see better, but smear the stoplights and some lights (LCD's, etc.) more.
It wasn't the 20 minute miracle or even day miracle that everyone I know got.
You seem to have it the hardest from what i have read on this board.
Definitely, contact some of these other docs even it is via email just to get their opinions.